Why did his family have to wait this long?  What happened to make our government stop caring and just gave up on him and the others?  Why did the Families have to sacrifice so much for so long, even death for those that could not live with the not knowing?  These are some questions that the families of our POW/MIA’s have had to endure until they become one of the “Lucky Ones”.  They are the ones that get a bone chip or that tooth, the tooth more on that later, or just told that their loved one has been found with nothing at all. 
My Family is one of the “lucky ones”.  The government is giving us a few bone chips, a Tooth, there is that darn tooth again, and some fragmented “personal Items”.  All this took 20 years of keeping it in everyone’s eyes and 10 years in keeping it in everyone’s face to bring one man home to American soil, where they all belong.  WHY does it take that much work from the families, of our POW/MIA’s that should be given the highest priority at the time of them being unaccounted for instead of Decades of uncertainty, to bring just ONE-MAN home? 
People ask why we, the families, continue to fight?  We are not talking about a bag of bones or a tooth, there is that tooth again, or even a dog tag;  we are talking about someone’s loved one: A Father, a son, a brother, a boy Friend, a cousin, a best friend, or even just a buddy.  In other words, we are talking about a person, not just a set of numbers assigned by our government. 
People ask what is it like to grow without a DAD?  You don’t have someone to go to Father and son dinners or days. No to help you with your first date or how to tie a tie.  No one is there to teach you to hit a ball or throw a pass. But you continue to have a Hero in your own mind. One that you know loved you even if he isn’t around physically he is forever present in  your heart.  This you never forget.  People have asked why I, the youngest, have fought so hard to bring just some bones home?  I think it is because I am the youngest and never really got to know my Dad.  I am told, from mom, that we had a special bond. That he would not let anything hurt me. I am just returning the favor. It is the proper thing to do, to bring him and the others home where they belong. On American Soil.  This is not a group burial as my dad’s back-seater had ejected from the aircraft. So anything found can be checked with the 
him to see whose it may have been. 
Why does it take so many people so long to bring so much relief to so few? 
I have seen and heard people being Happy for my Family and I. Others being sad, some being jealous of myself as well as my family and some just saying not to believe that it is him at all.  I would just like to say, from what I know of the circumstantial evidence and the hard evidence that we have, I DO believe that the remains that they have found are those of my Father, Capt. Richard Rich.  For the past 20 years I have been wanting to say this one thing to my him:  WELCOME HOME
We all love you Dad and you were never forgotten.

Now we need to continue the fight, to bring the rest of our men and women home.  However, it takes everyone to do this.  Not just one person or organization, it takes everyone. 

Thanks you 

Chris Rich
Proud Son of 
Capt. Richard Rich 
USN 1943-1967, MIA 1967-2000, KIA 2000-
XO of the VF96 
Shotdown 19May67
Finally brought home to American Soil 13March2000
 

One More Roll

We toast our hearty
Comrades who have fallen
From the skies, and were
Gently caught by God's own
Hands to be with him on high.

To dwell among the soaring
Clouds they've known so well
Before, from victory roll to
Tail chase at heavens very
Door.

And as we fly among them
There we're sure to hear
Their plea, "Take care my
Friend, watch your six, and do
One more roll for me."

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